California authorities announced on Friday that the state's entertainment industry can get up and running again by next week, laying out some basic guidelines for restarting production amid the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic.

Reese Witherspoon promised free dresses to teachers who signed up with her clothing company, but after nearly a million handed over their personal information, the movie star offered only a 250-dress lottery, teachers said in a putative breach of contract class action removed to California federal court Thursday.

A Pennsylvania federal judge on Friday threw out claims from a Philadelphia local news anchor that Facebook, Reddit and image hosting website Imgur had allowed her likeness to be used without her permission in advertisements for erectile dysfunction treatments and online dating services.

Tech companies including Apple, Google and Microsoft are pushing back on a petition to stay the FCC's approval for wireless services in the 6 GHz band, which is already shared by critical infrastructure companies and utilities.

The Iowa Supreme Court on Friday sent a coverage suit over the death of an employee of Adventureland Amusement Park back to the state district court, saying the lower court was wrong to rule that a gross negligence pleading forecloses coverage for an "accident."

More Chinese public companies are considering listing their shares abroad as they mull alternatives before a looming crackdown by U.S. policymakers concerned that Chinese issuers have long dodged transparency requirements governing U.S.-listed companies.

The D.C. Circuit on Friday affirmed the reinstatement of a Playboy magazine reporter's White House press pass, which had been temporarily suspended last year following a clash with a former Trump administration aide, ruling that the reporter was not given proper notice as to the severity of the potential penalty.

SpaceX is pushing back on recent suggestions that the 12 GHz spectrum band should be repurposed for next-generation mobile service, saying it already plans to use the band to power satellite broadband.

A group of Dallas-area homeowners must arbitrate their state court fraud and conspiracy claims against digital home services marketplace HomeAdvisor Inc. because they agreed to the terms when they submitted searches for contractors on the website, a Texas appellate court has ruled.

Sen. Amy Klobuchar, D-Minn., and Rep. Anna Eshoo, D-Calif., have called on congressional leaders to get behind their emergency broadband bill, which would create a billion-dollar fund to support high-speed internet access for college students stuck at home amid the COVID-19 pandemic.

A Second Circuit panel looked ready Friday to apply recent Supreme Court guidance on timeliness of appeals in consolidated cases, after grouped suits claiming World Wrestling Entertainment hid the risks of head injuries were dismissed by a Connecticut federal judge.

In this week's Taxation With Representation, gaming company Zynga buys Turkey-based Peak for $1.8 billion, snack company Utz makes a $1.6 billion merger, and Australian digital payment company Zip increases its equity holdings in QuadPay.

In the last week or so, the Internet Archive's library service came under fire, a vodka company that started making hand sanitizer sought to defend its brand name, a convicted intellectual property thief asked to be let out early over the pandemic, and the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office launched a new resource center.

Six Flags Great Adventure LLC has been slapped with a proposed class action in New Jersey federal court alleging the business has unlawfully refused to provide refunds to season ticket holders despite its plans to reduce access to the amusement park due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

The Federal Trade Commission has hit a mobile game developer with a $4 million penalty for allegedly permitting advertisers to collect personal information from children who use its apps, a move opposed by Commissioner Noah Phillips, who said the penalty was "too much" given the relatively little harm caused to consumers.

A California federal judge tore into Facebook's proposed $550 million biometric privacy settlement with a class of Illinois users Thursday, saying he won't yet grant preliminary approval and has many questions about a deal that gives users just 1.25% of what they could be entitled to under the Prairie State's biometric privacy law.

A consumer advocacy group on Thursday slammed Zoom Video Communications Inc.'s plan to only offer strengthened encryption protections to paying users, a move the video conferencing company says will help combat abuse on the platform.

AT&T might be breaking its promise to abide by net neutrality principles by allowing customers to stream from certain company-owned services without fear of reaching their data cap, three Democratic senators said Thursday.

Ameranth Inc. told the U.S. Supreme Court that a decision invalidating its online menu patent asserted against Domino's Pizza was "profoundly wrong" because it axed claims not at issue in the case, and will have ramifications far beyond patent law.

The Federal Communications Commission has told the Fifth Circuit it was well within its rights to restrict federal subsidies to telecommunications companies that buy equipment from Huawei, pushing back on the Chinese telecom giant's claims that the move violates the U.S. Constitution.

A New York law firm on Thursday said it didn't take part in any illicit conspiracy as the firm urged a New Jersey federal court to toss a beauty salon owner's New Jersey Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt Organizations Act claim that the firm tried to extort money from her over purportedly unauthorized DirecTV services.

Simpson Thacher-led sales and marketing platform ZoomInfo Inc. on Thursday raised $935 million in an initial public offering that priced above its already upwardly revised range, fueling a resurgent IPO market in what is shaping up to be the year's busiest week for new listings.

An association of rural wireless carriers has asked lawmakers for funding to help scrub Huawei and ZTE equipment from U.S. telecom networks, after components from the Chinese telecom manufacturers were deemed to be a national security risk.

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Expert Analysis

While a victory for student-athletes, the Ninth Circuit's recent finding that the NCAA violated the Sherman Antitrust Act by restricting grant-in-aid may give schools with wealthy athletic boosters a distinct advantage and make it difficult to maintain a level playing field, say attorneys at Segal McCambridge.

Law firms in today's financial crisis may be looking at nontraditional arrangements such as portfolio funding or factoring to provide liquidity and cash support, but firms must first consider lawsuits brought against Pierce Bainbridge and other recent developments, says Katherine Toomey at Lewis Baach.

Those seeking resolution in commercial disputes that are stuck in an unavoidable but lengthy court backlog due to the pandemic must consider the advantages of arbitration and mediation over court proceedings, says former U.S. District Judge Shira Scheindlin now at Stroock.

The Minnesota Supreme Court's Maslowski v. Prospect Funding Partners decision this week reaffirms that the doctrine of champerty is archaic, impedes important litigation finance activity, and should be abolished in the handful of states where it remains alive, says Andrew Cohen at Burford Capital.

Our recent survey reveals that while many communications and media companies are planning new corporate structures or product offerings to keep up with their industry’s exponential growth, they need to improve how they identify and address indirect communications tax compliance, says Toby Bargar at Avalara.

A significant challenge in practicing law remotely is the use and handling of documents without paper, because common digital tools such as email or even secure file transfer applications are problematic, say attorneys at Baker McKenzie.

In an online copyright landscape that creates incentives for enforcement agents to seek windfalls and for defendants to make settlement payments — as recently illustrated by a New York federal court's holding in Seidman v. Authentic Brands — there are several measures for mitigating unreasonable demands, says Jordan Feirman at Skadden.

As companies and their counsel prepare for enforcement by the newly confirmed special inspector general for pandemic recovery responsible for overseeing CARES Act funds, Christy Goldsmith Romero, special inspector general for the Troubled Asset Relief Program, shares how her office has investigated fraud, waste and abuse of federal relief funds following the 2008 financial crisis.

The U.S. Department of Defense should stop blocking Ligado Networks' 5G network due to concerns it interferes with the department's GPS, and should instead pay the opportunity cost to buy Ligado's spectrum, say Thomas Lenard at the Technology Policy Institute and Lawrence White at the NYU Stern School of Business​​​​​​​.

The legal industry is uniquely positioned, and indeed obligated, to respond to the racial disparities made clear by the recent killings of George Floyd and Breonna Taylor, but lawyers must be willing to be uncomfortable, says Tiffani Lee at Holland & Knight.

After the Second Circuit's recent Sohm v. Scholastic decision on late-filed copyright infringement claims, defendants may have grounds for early dismissals of monetary damages claims, say Andrea Calvaruso and Taraneh Marciano at Kelley Drye.

One mistake that attorneys commonly make when presenting a case to a third-party funder is focusing almost exclusively on liability and giving short shrift to the damages analysis — resulting in an aspirational damages estimate that falls apart under scrutiny, say Cindy Ahn and Justin Maleson at Longford Capital and Casey Grabenstein at Saul Ewing.

Attorneys at WilmerHale highlight recent developments in privilege law, the significant challenges raised by nontraditional working arrangements popularized during the pandemic, and ways to avoid waiving attorney-client privilege when using electronic communications.